


She brought him the peace he gave her

by CoatSwapInn (mybelovedtwinflower)



Category: Archipelago (Webcomic)
Genre: Comfort/Angst, Drinking & Talking, knull can still speak, mentions of Lucinda's funeral, squeezed in between the end and the epilogue
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-06-04
Updated: 2019-06-04
Packaged: 2020-04-07 22:37:01
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,166
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19094449
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/mybelovedtwinflower/pseuds/CoatSwapInn
Summary: Credenza stumbled upon Knull and the two of them catch up.





	She brought him the peace he gave her

**Author's Note:**

> This was written somewhere between the damage in Snow's dream battles were dealt but before the physical damage was revealed. It was just me being emotional over Knull and thinking about what could happen at the end for him.  
> Enjoy!

So much had happened and Knull, finally free _(never free)_ , still alone _(finally alone)_ , let it all out. How he sat for long hours at a table with leathers and metals for his hands to work on. He locked the door, he never felt comfortable with it open. Though Kurr and Hands and his uncle were dead, _(they were all dead, except for him,)_ he still flinched at noises in the hall, and scuffles down the streets.

He wanted to go... to go home, but he had no home left. When he left, he went on his own. Somewhere he could be alone to mind to his armor... behind a locked door and left to his own thoughts. 

 

Credenza found him once, almost a year after the war had been won. The two of them had their paths cross.  Raven was with her, but he went to pursue the nearby shops while the two caught up. She offered to buy him a drink, then they sat together and talked about things.

The first thing he could see the same shadows around her eyes. She'd dealt with it twice, the experience of being terrorized and then freed from Snow. Knull... his were still fresh, new, and he didn't have practice with relief. 

"Does it get any easier?" Knull asked as he hunched over his drink.

"With time," she said after taking a swig on her own glass.

"Will it ever go away? The nightmares..."

Her eyes were honest as she softly shook her head no. If it does, she hadn’t reached that point yet.

Knull chuckled despite himself, feeling the dread that he knew too well.  "No, I guess not."

 

_That first night awake after the battle... The ravens he'd been with had been gathered up with the others in the next town over. Knull slept for days, and when he woke up, Credenza had found him._

_"Knull! You're alright," she said when she saw him sitting up._

_"Cre-" He winced and rubbed his throat. "ow," he croaked out._

_Credenza grimaced and her hand went to her own shoulder. "Yeah. The fight did a number on us."_

_"Did you-- did we-- i-is he--" His voice was hoarse and cracked painfully when he spoke._

_"We won, Knull," Credenza said, putting a hand on his arm, "It's over."_

_"Snow is gone," someone else said. Those words were lost on him._

 

"I hadn't seen you since we parted ways."

"I just got back from the hidden island," Knull explained when Credenza asked him how he'd been.

"How was Miss Tabitha?"

"She's got her hands full with those girls."

* * *

 

Credenza had been the one who introduced him. "Miss Tabitha this is Knull. He was the one who helped us in the abbey and he helped me defeat Snow in the dreamscape.

“Boy, I remember you. You were with Snow and Lucinda trying to steal the book.”

He stuttered in recognition of the old lady. Nervous and a bit scared.

"Y-y-you... knew Lucinda, right?" He asked, "Her family?"

"She was one of our own before she left," Tabitha said.

"After he tricked her..."

Tabitha's eyes flickered, "You knew her... what happened? What happened to my girl?"

"I-I'm s-sorry... she's gone..."

Tabitha's expression was one of old grief.

Knull's voice broke with a sob, and he couldn't speak for long between the stuttering and the dry itchy throat scar from the dreamscape, but he continued to tell her what happened to Lucinda.

She placed a worn calloused hand over his own as he told what had taken place earlier. How Snow had set it up.  How Lucinda had discovered the truth.

When he could speak no more, Tabitha bowed her head in sorrow.

Tabitha had walked with Knull through the abbey as they spoke. Their shared expressions spanning several emotions, fondness, gentle, remorse, grief... _He wished he could have saved her... that she could have returned here or just left alive to find a new life._

He answered Tabitha's questions about how Lucinda had been. The Lucinda he knew.

He was the one who delivered the news of her last moments. Found the words to explain what Snow had done, using Lucy that way from the beginning, just to get the book and for his own sick amusement.

He'd stayed a few days to attend the funeral service. They shared stories of Lucinda. He heard of a different side of her, before her heart and spirit were broken. The girls at the abbey grieved... one told him that some had hoped she might come back... she might be saved...

He was grateful he was able to attend.

It... he hadn't had any funeral for his family. Just his own quiet goodbyes while trying to survive his uncle.

He turned down Miss Tabitha's invitation to stay longer at the abbey. Being alone seemed to fit him better.

* * *

 

With their drinks emptied, and the simple life updates shared back and forth, the two of them naturally parted ways. 

Raven squeezed his arm around Credenza's waist. Knull nodded his farewell. He walked down the street. As he was about to turn the corner, Raven ran up to him and called out. 

"Actually... Knull, can I have a moment to talk?" Raven said. Knull nodded. Raven sighed and tilt his head back as if trying to find the words. "Look, um... I made a discovery that I thought you might...find helpful. I found out how the Great Raven's link worked, and I think... I think I'm able to reverse engineer it..." 

"What would that do?" Knull asked, feeling the scar on his throat. 

Raven looked him in the eye. "Well, for a moment I was able to see an index of all of the ravens that exist, and I saw Lucinda on that list. She's alive, Knull. She's out there somewhere. It would let you find Lucinda. I didn't tell Credenza this, because she needs to recover and taking a wild goose chase to find someone who might not want to be found wouldn't help... but I know when it's important for someone to know. I've sent out a message to Tabitha earlier, so this is actually perfect timing. You knew Lucinda, and the raven fragment in your eye was part of the same team of sorts. It'll allow me a better focus point for narrowing down actual information about the whereabouts... You might be one of the best ways to find her, Knull."

For the first time in decades, Knull felt a thrill. "What a-about the book? Her connection with-" 

Raven shook his head. "Tuff and I have done some research, and the book's connection is always severed if a strong enough trauma occurs. It can be reset with physical proximity but the book won't be able to help locate Lucinda even if it wanted to. The only link we have left is the one from the raven."

Knull squared his shoulders, a flame rekindling in his chest. "Tell me what I need to do."

 


End file.
